Admittance
by veronica.toon.7
Summary: AU: What if Simba had told Nala why he couldn't come home and of his father' death? How would this change the story? Would he still come home or would he stay in the jungle? Would Nala still trust Simba after he told her or would she abandon him? Read to find out!
1. Admittance

**One-shot. What if Simba had told Nala why he couldn't come home and of his father' death? My take on what might have happened.**

 **I own nothing. The Lion King and all its content belong to Disney. I don't own the cover picture either.**

* * *

Simba's POV

I couldn't believe it. My best friend from my cub hood was here, right here. It's been years since I last saw her, and man has she changed a lot. She went from a constantly-pinning-me-and-partner-in-crime cub to just an absolutely lovely lioness, who still can pin me on my back.

After showing her around my home, it had started to become twilight and the last sight I wanted her to experience is the waterfalls.

"Isn't this a great place," I asked her. She's kept some feet behind me for sometime getting to here.

"It is beautiful, but I don't understand something. You've been alive all this time. Why didn't you come back to Pride Rock," she replies. I feel suddenly less happier than I was a few minutes ago. She can't know about why I'm here, but I have to answer her, somehow.

"Well I just needed to get out on my own. Live my own life. And I did, and it's great," I say, hoping my excuse will fool her. To add for it, I swing my body over a cluster of vines hanging off the side of the log bridge, getting into them like a vine hammock.

"We really need you at home," she says, putting her paws over a dipping vine. Her words only add more weight on my heart.

"No one needs me," I reply.

"Yes we do," she banters. "You're the king."

"Nala, we've been through this. I'm not the king. Scar is," I insist, trying to get her off this subject desperately.

"Simba, he let the hyenas take over the Pridelands," she says in a sad voice, dipping her head down towards the water a few yards below us.

"What," I ask.

"Everything's destroyed. There's no food, no water. Simba if you don't do something soon everyone will starve," she says. She's taken on a pleading tone now. I so wish I could tell her the truth. I wish I could be completely honest with her, just to pour out the pain that I've kept on my heart that has been suppressed till now. But...

"I can't go back."

"Why," she questions.

"You wouldn't understand," I reply cryptically. I get out of the vine hammock and back onto my feet. I begin to turn away from my childhood friend.

"What wouldn't I understand," she asks, her voice growing to another decibel level. She starts to walk after me, trying to look me in the eyes and to siphon the truth out of me.

"No, no, no, no! It doesn't matter. Hakuna Matata," I try to tell her. I have to get her off my back.

"What," she asks.

"Hakuna Matata. It's something I learned out here. Look, sometimes bad things happen-"

"Simba," she yells.

"-And there's nothing you can do about it. So why worry?" My words come out more heartless than helpful, but... but it;s all that I can say to her now.

"Because it's your responsibility," she yells at me. I stop walking away from her. A brief memory comes to me. My dad sitting beside me on the top of Pride rock, looking over everything as the sun rises. It was my responsibility, then I had to leave.

"Well what about you? You left," I reply, turning to face her.

"I left to find help, and I found you. Don't you understand? You're our only hope," she answers. She's begging me to help her, but my past. What happened back there, I just can't...

"Sorry," I reply. I feel like a heartless monster now. I feel lower than the dirt underneath my paws. I feel like the leaf and plant decay rotting on the ground below. I just want to die now and rot with it too.

"What's happened to you? You're not the Simba I remember," she says. I can feel the anger radiating off her like a small sun. Its painful. I deserve every second of it. I so badly want to say something to comfort her, to say that I can't come back because of my part in my father's death, though now I have lost all control over my words. My anger and selfishness hold them now.

"You're right. I'm not. Now are you satisfied?"

"No, just disappointed," she says quietly. Her words pierce me like daggers. I'm hurting her. I'm hurting her and I have no control over how I'm or why doing it.

"You know you're beginning to sound like my father." I begin to walk away from her now. Now my own body is against what my heart is trying to get out. Everything, my mind, my words and now my muscles are telling me to just leave her behind and to not care if she or my pride die back there. Her words tear me apart from what she says next.

"Good, at least one of us does." I stop, then and there. My mind is working overtime to process her words. It wasn't a question, but a statement. I can only think about the truth of it all.

I've been here all my life, leisurely spending all my time under the mantra of Hakuna Matata, completely ignoring and forgetting what my father had taught me. I've only thought of escaping it all, the pain, the responsibilities, just to avoid the hurt. My heart has sunk to the deepest crevices of my chest, hiding from everyone because I let it, now only to come back up and pour out its pain, spreading all throughout my chest and weighing down from the innocence and truth of her words. Worse of all is that every last part of this conversation, everything that she's said, is absolutely and undeniably true.

I feel everything I've blocked out for the past few years start to leak out from the cracks of the invisible dam, the hidden scar tissue, that has been hiding behind my heart this entire time. I feel myself collapse to the ground below me, the anger and selfishness I've had over me losing there hold over me, leaving space and freedom for my emotions to come falling out.

Then, like a silent, tremendous crack, I feel the dam break, everything coming over me like a flood, sweeping away everything in this path and bringing forth so many feelings and a thoughts that it confuses me to the point of that I just can't hold it in anymore. I shut my eyes tightly and let the first two evidences of my pain gather and stream forward, leaving clear, wet trails in their wake and carving out a path for the ones that follow.

I can't describe my pain shooting forward. I feel angry, sad, confused, sick and disgusted all at once. But among everything, there is one piece that stands out, small but strong.

Longing.

Wanting my father to have not died in the stampede. Having my name not stained on his death. Craving for comfort on my breaking heart. My lungs begin to ache in my chest too. I release the air stuck within there paralyzed walls. I hardly realize I have begun to sob until after I hear the shortcuts of air intake, punctuated by a new tear for every single one of them. I just want to be free of this pain and sadness that hurts me. I feel so drowned in my sorrows that I don't even realize that Nala is still behind me.

* * *

How can he do this? Not only to me, but to everyone else? I can only think how different he is from the Simba I knew growing up. How can the cub I knew who constantly bragged about becoming king to one who lazes about and decides to shirk his responsibilities to the pride? To the entire Pridelands!

It's been years since we've last seen each other. Everyone else and I thought he had died. Died along with his father. The day Scar told us the news, we had all mourned and wept for the both of them. Scar never told us anything else about it and to this day if we even mentioned either of their names he would lash out at us, with either his words, claws or he would send his hyenas to bring us to our paws in the humiliating gesture of submission.

My mother died during his time of ruler. With the hyenas becoming part of the Pridelands we were forced to hunt for them to. The lands died and the herds moved away, still we were ordered to hunt. My mother only kept trying and trying to make sure we were all fed and safe. She kept pushing and pushing herself, any food she received either went directly to Scar, the hyenas or to me. It was only a matter of time till she collapsed.

I'll never forget the day it happened. She had worn herself to exhaustion and had finally broken down in the middle of a hunt and never woke up from it. The other lionesses had taken her body back to Pride Rock where I had stayed back. Sarabi had stayed behind with me, not only to keep me company but to also keep away any hyenas that might try and prey on an exposed cub with no protection or means of defense.

We saw the lionesses coming forward. We meant to get there first, but the hyenas raced forward and right into the midst of them. They were always given first choice of the prey, but it wasn't prey this time. There were many howls of pain as the lionesses lashed back, trying to et them away from my mom's carcass. There were just too many and they overwhelmed them. When finally Scar intervened, then I saw.

They had torn her fur and many bare spot were exposed. Her body had many bite and claw marks on it as the hyenas tried to get to her flesh underneath. Her right ear was torn off and there was blood all over her body and face. Scar didn't even let us have a moment of silence for then he let the hyenas pass the lionesses and devour her. We could only watch in pain and horror for as anyone who tried to stop them get attacked and left injured on the ground. That night was filled with many tears and screams of agony as death once again passed on the pride.

Scar didn't even care for my mother, he let her starve and be eaten by his own hyenas. His reign has left nothing but death and sorrow over everyone and everything he rules over. This is why I left. I left to find someone that could help us and bring the Pridelands to what they once her.

And I found Simba! My best friend. The lost prince who we all assumed to be dead. He has come back. Why can't he come back? He can't be as selfish as Scar is. Have I even reached him with my words?

I hear him fall forward onto the ground behind me. I don't think much of it till I hear strange noises coming up. I stop and clear my mind to get better hearing on what the sound is. My heart sinks when I realize that I'm hearing sobbing and ragged breaths of air. I turn around to see Simba, lying down on the ground and freely crying into his paws.

Curious, I come closer to them. I also cannot help but think, was I the cause of this? Were my words really that painful to him?

I come closer to him and I see that he's crying hard and his body is racked with shivers. He appears to be gasping for breath between each sob. I feel an overwhelming feeling of concern for him. Funny how I've gone from mad to sympathetic in mere seconds.

I get down close to his side and lay down next to him. I gently placed my paw across his and stroke it gently with my last toe. He seems to be grinding his face into the dirt, like he's in pain from his now sudden crying fit.

We stay like this for a few more minutes, till he finally looks up at me. His eyes are red, the eye whites punctuated by blood vessels surrounding his crimson irises, Tears are still gathered at the base of his eyelids. I remember what my mother use to do when I cried so I reach out and quickly wipe them away before they can fall.

He looks at me with sadness deep within his eyes. I can't help but think that his sadness was caused by my words. I feel the urge to apologize quickly and sincerely. He beats me to it.

"I'm sorry," he says. I stare at him, trying to discern what he means by that.

"What? No, no, no, no. You don't have to apologize. It's my fault. I shouldn't have been so harsh," I say quickly. He cuts me off and silences me by placing a paw on my mouth.

"No, it really, really is my fault. You're right Nala, you're right about everything. I'm such a horrible lion. You must really hate me," he says, turning his head away from me.

"No, I don't hate you. Its just, you really aggravated me back there," I reply. Okay, so we're finally talking and maybe we can finally communicate and get somewhere.

I hold his paw a bit tighter and cause him to look back at me again. "Care to explain what this is all about?"

He looks up at me a stares, this time with pain in his eyes. I feel a wave of pity come over me for him. I keep staring and I realize that Simba didn't come here by choice because he wanted to get away from it all. No, he was forced to leave home. But why?

He leans in whispers into my ear, "Prepare yourself Nala, for what I am about to tell you is a sad and sorrowful tale of what lead me to live my life here for the past few years."

I replied "Please Simba. Tell me, tell me the truth. What lead you to come here and not come back home? You could have stopped Scar from becoming king, but why didn't you?"

* * *

She's asking me to tell her the truth. She's asking me to reveal my past, the one I've kept hidden all this time. Can I let my heart out this time? Can I trust Nala to hear me through?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the memory of the day my father died came into my brain and poured out into words.

"I was just a cub. My uncle Scar had taken me down to the gorge to wait for my dad. He said my-" I struggle to say the word, "-father had a marvelous surprise for me. He lead me to a tree in the gorge and told me to wait here while he got my father with the surprise. I asked if I could come with him, but he told me to stay there till he came back. I did as I was told. I became bored waiting for them so I started practicing my roaring and I caused one to echo across the gorge. Suddenly, I felt the ground started shaking and when I turned around I saw a herd of wildebeest running straight into the gorge towards at me. My roar must have caused them to start stampeding. I started running for my life and I-"

"Hold on a second, Simba. You roared and a herd of wildebeest started running into the gorge." she asked.

"Yes, my roar must have scared them into running down into gorge," I reply.

"I don't think that's why they stampeded into the gorge. I know that wildebeest are easily spooked, but a cub's roar wouldn't have been enough for them to start running," Nala explained. A moment passes before she continues. "And why would your father want you to wait in the gorge for his surprise for you? Seems suspicious, if you ask me."

To say I was shocked at this revelation would be an understatement. To realize that I had ran away for many years over a death that was not caused by me, this not only shatters my reality, but my entire world. I continue with my tale of sorrow.

"The stampede kept heading toward me. I started running and climbed up a tree to escape the wildebeests. My father soon appeared over the edge of the gorge with Scar. The branch I was on broke and I went flying into the air over the stampede. I would have fallen into the stampede, if my father hadn't jumped in and caught me before moving through the stampede and dodging wildebeests to get me to safety. He then climbed up the side of a cliff and put me to safety on the ledge. He would have gotten up with me to he hadn't got knocked back by a wildebeest into the stampede. I thought he had been trampled when I saw him leap up and claw up the side of the cliff, climbing upwards."

I felt sick as the memories kept shooting through my brain. It was torture, having re-think everything that I suppressed for so long, but she needs to know. I have to say it.

"I climbed up the cliff as well. From my view above my dad, I saw him reach out to Scar on the ledge. I saw my uncle reach down and grab my dad, but my dad's paws slipped through his and he... he-"

A few tears appeared in my eyes as I kept remembering that fateful day. Nala had begun to cry too. I decided to finish my story.

"After the herd had passed through, I went down to look for my father. I called his name and searched through the dust. I heard footsteps behind me, but all I saw was a wildebeest had had fallen behind the herd. I saw it head into the direction the herd had went and...and..."

I stutter before taking a deep breath for the next part, "I saw my father's body." I hear Nala gasp but I held my paw up to silence her.

"He was laying down next to the broken tree that I was just minutes ago. I ran over to him and tried to get him to wake up. When I couldn't, I tried to call for help but no one was there. I started crying and went over to him and sobbed."

Tears had begun to form a puddle at my paws, the dirt becoming mud. More of it was made as more of my tears joined the puddle, along with Nala alongside me. I felt her reach forward and wrap her paws around my neck. I flinch and cringe at the gesture, but I wrap my paws around her shoulders too, accepting the only source of comfort I can have right now.

"Showing sympathy for a murderer Nala? Cause this is what I'm seeing right now," I reply bitterly. I then felt her paw gently grip my face and move it so I could see hers.

"Would a murderer really shed tears for his father's death," she asked. I shut my eyes tightly, sending more tears to come forth. I feel then something warm squeezing me and through the blurry veil of tears I see a cream-colored lioness hugging me. I return the embrace, knowing I can be safe to admit anything around my best friend.

"Shh, it's okay Simba. Shh, shh. It's going to be fine. It wasn't your fault, you had nothing to do with it," she whispers into my ear. I look up to face her.

"Not my fault?! It was all my fault," I yell at her. She just remains calm and strokes my face with her paw.

"How could it be your fault. You were young and how could you had known that the wildebeest were coming. Besides, if anyone's to blame than its Scar. He's the one who lead you into the gorge for this so-called 'surprise' of yours." She paused. "Maybe he's more responsible for what happened than you think."

"Huh, what do you mean," I ask. She looks down and I see her shudder.

"During his rule, he forced the pride to over-hunt. There's nothing left, but we still had too constantly go out and find food for him and the hyenas. We almost hardly ever got any food. My mother, sh-she just couldn't go on and one day, she collapsed during a hunt and she didn't get up." She started to shiver and so I reach over and hug her around her neck. I feel her then bury her head into my mane and her tears start soaking through and leaving my neck wet, but I just hold on tighter to her.

She finally looks back up at me, her tears streaming down her face. I finally notice how she looks. There are dark circles under her eyes and she looks shrunken down. I can see her rib cage starting to poke out from her body. I can begin to imagine the things Scar has put on the lionesses during his reign.

"T-the other lionesses brought her home and then all the hyenas came running towards them. They didn't even notice that it wasn't prey they were carrying. They just rushed forward and... and," Nala stuttered and stared straight up at me. "They devoured her Simba." I gasped and she just buries her face into my neck again.I hold her even tighter.

"They finally shooed them away and I saw my mother's corpse. They had t-torn and b-bitten her flesh off. She was completely mutilated. Then S-Scar showed up and he just looked at my mom's body and h-he ordered the hyenas to continue eating her." She sobbed like a young cub, not caring if she looked immature, only trying to release her emotional pain.

I can only picture in my mind the horrible things Scar has done to Nala, my pride, and my own mother during his time as king. I remember Scar not being the nicest lion to the pride, but it doesn't mean he should abuse everyone just to get his way. I feel a wave of sadness and embarrassment come over my as I remember the fight I had with Nala about refusing to come back home and take back the throne from Scar. I feel ashamed for listening to my own want and desires and choosing to abandon it all just so I could forever live here under Hakuna Matata.

Nala has calmed down to just a few sniffles and tears streaming. I take this opportunity to speak to her now. I lean down and placed my muzzle next to her ear and whisper, "I'll come back home with you."

I feel her stop crying abruptly and she breaks away to look at me. "What," she whispers, as if what I had said was only a figment of her imagination and not the truth.

"I'm coming back with you to take my place as king of Pride Rock," I explain. I hasten wipe away the remainder of tears off her face. "I'm not going to leave you all to suffer anymore where you shouldn't had in the first place."

I lean in and whisper "I promise I'll make this right." She smiles and wipes away a few tears off her face. She suddenly pounces at me and knocks me onto my back with her on top. She hugs me and nuzzles my chest.

"Thank you. Thank you so much Simba. You don't know what this means, to everyone, especially to me," she says. I nod as much as I can. I feel nervous about what may lie ahead when I come back with her to the Pridelands, but I want to do this. It has been my birthright to become king and I will follow in my father's footsteps and do my best for the kingdom.

I just wonder how I'm going to break the news to Timon and Pumbaa.

* * *

A dead branch snaps under my paw as I walk through what once was the beautiful Pridelands, now the barren and gray Shadow lands. Everything I see is dead. Skeletons of animals litter the sullen ground that is just as grey as the sky above. The earth as dark and cracked. There is no water in the riverbed that splits the land. I see no green, no grasses, no leaves on trees anywhere. So much has changed while I was gone.

I realize how much I need to take back the throne. I need to make the Pridelands livable for the pride and all the land's inhabitants.

I feel something warm nuzzle the back of my neck. Nala and I have trekked the entire day to get back here. We managed to convince Timon and Pumbaa to aid us in seizing back the throne from my uncle. If I can convince him to surrender his place as king then there will be no need for fighting over it.

Nala notices my shock and breaks away. "It's awful, isn't it," she says.

I nod and turn my direction back to the land. "I didn't want to believe you," I reply.

"I have to know, Simba. What made you decide to come back," she asks.

"I finally got some sense knocked into me. I realized you were right and that if it was selfish of me to decide to leave things like this here. Besides this is my kingdom. If I don't fight for it, who will?"

"I will," she replies. She move over to my side and looks over at my eyes.

"It's gonna be dangerous," I remind.

"Danger? Ha, I laugh in the face of danger."

"I see nothing funny about this," a voice from behind says.

I turn around to see a maroon warthog with a meerkat on the top of his head coming towards up. I've managed to convince both of them to help me get back my father's throne from my uncle. It took a little explaining to do and a whole lot of reasoning, but they agreed to let me go only if they came with me.

"Hey, you two. About time you showed up", I say.

"At your service, my liege," Pumbaa says and we walks up and bows to me.

"Ugh, we're gonna fight your uncle, for this," Timon asks as he walks up and surveys the land.

"Yes Timon" I reply. "This is my home."

"Um. Talk about your fixer-upper. Well Simba, if it's important to you, than we're with you to the end."

I smile back to him before turning my direction back over to the Pridelands. I stare directly at Pride Rock. I have no idea what may lie there when I get there, but I know I am prepared to fight with every last bit of strength if I have to, just to make sure that my uncle steps down.

I feel a light breeze blow in my face. And as if a little voice carried by it sounds in my mind, I hear, _"Good luck, my son."_

I'm ready now. Ready to go back home now and save everything I've left behind all these years ago. This is my day. The day I fight back for what my father would have wanted. Today the Prideland's rightful heir returns home to return it to its proper place.

* * *

 **Well, what do you guys think? I've been working on this for awhile and I meant to get it up earlier, but I've been busy with school. I'm planning on doing a lot of Lion King 'What if's', since I've already completed my main story awhile ago. Hope you all enjoyed this!**

 **Also I'm sorry I killed off Sarafina, but I really do doubt if we actually see her in the Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. I know you all might say 'Oh, it was the lioness who said "My have you've grown' during Kiara's first hunt"', but for me it wasn't the same lioness. And also that lioness had red eyes instead of green. Plus it made for an extra incentive for Simba to come home and fight. I've always did wonder how it would happen if Simba came home when Nala asked, he seems so selfish and lazy in the movie when he argues with her. I know he was hurting, but why didn't he at least be a little honest with her?**

 **Please review and I might add another chapter to this. Sincerely, v.t.7**


	2. Confession

**Last part of this story. We're finishing off with Simba confronting Scar and the rest on from there.**

 **I own nothing. The Lion King and all its content belongs to Disney. This includes the Hula scene music. I do not own the cover image either.**

* * *

Simba's POV

Nala lead us to the path towards Pride Rock, the same one she used to run away from here to the jungle where she found me. We duck under some rocks and start to survey our surroundings, a dark cloud covering above us giving us better camouflage. There, lasting for many yards, is the entire hyena clan. Entire hordes of them. Nala did not lie in the least bit when she said Scar had let in the hyenas during his rule. There are many of them, far too many for the pride to support. The barren and lifeless landscape only further proves there death and destruction put onto this land.

A small group of five are laying down on the other side of the rocks, blocking out direct pathway to Scar without being scene. They'll need to leave is we're ever going to get past them undetected. Timon and Pumbaa pop up from my right side and look at the sight before them.

"Hyenas. I hate hyenas," Timon says. He sounds fearful, I can relate, being that at one point they scared me too.

"So what's your plan for getting past those guys" he whispers to me. I'd actually had come up with a plan for that, but he;s not going to like it.

"Live bait," I reply.

"Good idea," he's states, not yet understanding the meaning behind it yet. A second later, he says, "Hey."

"Come on Timon," I banter. "You guys need to create a diversion." He stares at me incredulously.

"What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?"

* * *

The plan worked perfectly. Distracted by their own hunger and the appetizing two right before them, we make it by unseen.

"Nala, you find my mother and rally the lionesses. I'll look for Scar," I say determinedly and begin heading towards Pride Rock. She nods and goes off.

I walk silently yet quickly, trying to make myself unseen. The ground underneath my paws is hard and dusty, so I barely make any noise as I walk past the rocks and dead branches.

"Sarabi!"

I look past a stone wall to see Scar on a rock outcrop, calling across the land. The hyenas seemed to all gathered at the foot of Pride Rock. I then see some part away, making room for something to pass through.

I then see her. My mother.

The hyenas bark and snap at her feet as she walks regally past them, making her way to where Scar is. I watch in concern and in sadness as the hyenas chomp and flash there sharp, canine teeth at her, yet she doesn't even flinch as she glares disdainfully at them and moves past them to where my uncle is. I see them clearly from where I am. Now is the perfect chance to revel myself to the both of them. I climb down the steep rock path as the two talk, well not so much as talk, more like arguing.

The clouds up above have grown darker, making it easier for me to hide if necessary. I climb up some ways, trying to get a direct path to them.

As soon as I clear the hill, I look down just to see him turn around and hits her with his paw in her jaw, sending her back a few feet and lying down unmoving. I feel a surge of rage course through me. No one hurts my mother. I growl down at Scar and a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder illuminates my form from behind me while the wind blows.

Scar looks up shocked and fearful at me. I run down the hill to where they are and he backs away afraid. I'll deal with him later.

I walk over to my mother's still form and I nudge her head. She opens her eyes dazed and groans, but no real harm appears to been put on her. I look over and give Scar a glare before turning back to her. She turns her head up to look at me. Her eyebrows furrow as she gives a confused expression.

"Mufasa?" I shake my head.

"No. It's me," I reply, giving a small smile to her. She stares up confused, but then a glimmer of recognition glimmers in her eyes.

"Simba? You're alive? How can that be," she asks.

"It doesn't matter. I'm home," I say and I nuzzle my mother, reassuring the both of us.

"Simba," I hear Scar asks. "Simba. I'm a little surprised to see you," he glares up on top of a ridge to some hyenas, "alive."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart," I say threateningly. I step over my mother and start advancing towards him slowly. He starts backing away until he hits a the rock wall behind him. He turns to the side and presses himself against it.

"Oh, Simba, you must understand" he says. "The pressures of ruling a kingdom-"

"-are no longer yours" I finish for him. "Step down Scar."

"Oh, oh, yes-" he stutters out. "Well, I would, heh, naturally, heh- however, there is one little problem. You see them?" He points up above us, and there upon the ridge are hordes of hyenas, staring down and showing off their teeth down on us. A crash of thunder illuminates them, making the tens of them clearly shown. I stare up at them for a second before looking back and glaring at Scar again.

"They think I'm king."

"Well we don't," a voice from behind argues. We both look to see Nala standing proudly on a small rock with the rest of the lionesses around her. Two lioness help my mother up while the others surround her and Nala, standing with her and against Scar. "Simba is the rightful king."

"The choice is yours, Scar. Either step down or fight."

"Oh, must this all end in violence," he asks and starts moving past me, towards the lionesses, and looks back at me. "I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree, Simba?"

A brief flashback of what happened in the gorge flashes through my brain. Scar has rubbed a raw wound. I see now what's doing, I can't let him take me down that easily. I fix my glare on him.

"That's not gonna work, Scar. I've put it behind me," I tell him, hoping he'll back down. Yet, by now, I should know how crafty my uncle is.

"Eh, but what about your faithful subjects? Have they put it behind them," he asks, looking towards them. My words catch in my throat, but luckily, and thankfully, Nala has my back in this conversation.

"It wasn't his fault Scar," she says and fixes her best glare at him. "It was no one's fault. From what he told me, Mufasa's death was of no consequences of being related to him being there at that time." Scar looks taken aback and he stares fearfully at Nala while the other lioness stare shocked at her too.

"Simba, what is this all about," my mother asks and she starts walking past Scar towards me. Scar gets over his shock and steps in between us and growls.

"Ah, so you have told someone, Simba, but what what about the rest of them? You've told her your little secret," he points at Nala and snarls, "But have you've told anyone else of what happened on that day," he asks. "Well, Simba, now's your chance to tell them. Tell them who is responsible for Mufasa's death!"

The lionesses stop glaring at him to look at me. They're waiting for an answer. I feel the fear inside me rising, but I force it down. They need to hear the truth from my side. I close my eyes and draw in a deep breath, calming the rest of me down. I open my eyes again and lock them with Scar's, red meeting electric green.

"Not mine," I say simply.

"What?" He wasn't expecting this answer. I move my head closer to stare at him deeper.

"My father's death was not my fault." He starts shrinking down and backing away nervously. My mother moves past him and to me, intercepting between us.

"Simba, how do you know this," she asks. She takes my face into her paw and moves it to look at her. _"She's my mother. She should know,"_ I think. I close my eyes again and take another deep breath before replying.

"I was in the gorge when my father's death happened. I saw the entire thing. The canyon, the stampede," I pause for a moment, "my father's death." I hear her gasp along with the other lionesses. I open my eyes to look at her, I see her eyes, they are filled with sadness.

"My poor baby," she whispers and leans in to wrap her forelegs around my neck. Shock fills me, but lessens when I hear jagged breathing and feel warm liquid splashing in droplets on the back of my neck spilling down and soaking my mane. She's crying. I unconsciously put my forelegs around her, holding onto her in a hug. I hear Scar scoff at the sight of us, but he can take a hike.

Nala and the rest of the pride now came over to comfort and mourn with mother and I. Each of them had tears falling from their eyes. Scar was in shock as he saw the pride moving past him to comfort his me,

"What do you think you're doing," he screamed. "Showing sympathy for a lion who witnessed his father's death and never told anyone about it is what I see."

A lioness cried out, "Simba is innocent. He isn't responsible for Mufasa's death. It wasn't his fault!" Then the other lionesses added their voices to the cry.

"I wasn't responsible for it, Scar. As I recall, you were there to witness it to, and... and," a sudden memory comes up, "and-"

I suddenly remember how it went. He had told me to run away and never come back. He made me feel responsible for my father's death. I glared at him and a growl erupted from my throat. "You told me to run away and never return. You told me to leave, that it was all my fault," I yelled at him.

The pride glared at Scar and began growling and snarling at him. None were as angry at him as my mom though. She turned to Scar, with a fiery glare in her eyes.

"You told my son to run away and to never return!? He was just a cub, you sick, sick excuse for the king," mom roared. She was about to leap at him and probably pound him and them rip him to shreds before a group of hyenas stood in front of him.

"N-now now now Sarabi. I-It was not my fault. H-he...," Scar stuttered out from behind his hyena barricade, but he never finished what he was going to say.

"Shut up you pathetic excuse for a lion," mom screamed and she barreled through the hyenas and onto Scar and she pinned him to the ground with her paws around his neck in a choke-hold. Scar started to gasp for breath and a few hyenas tried to pull mom off, but she had Scar held tightly. I finally came in between the two, pushing away the hyenas back to get my mother to let go.

"Mother. Mother! Please, let go. I can handle this," I say.

"He told you to leave the Pridelands for a crime you didn't even commit my son," she replies.

"I know mom, I know, but please. Let him and I talk," I beg. Mother glares at Scar one last time before getting off him, but not before growling at him one last time before moving behind me. We then faced each other.

"Simba, please I beg you. I... am... ah... family," Scar tried.

"You don't deserve to live," I retorted. I felt no sympathy for him now.

"But it wasn't my fault. I-I was overcome with grief at the time," Scar started.

"Why should I believe you? Everything you've ever told me was a lie," I asked.

"Simba please. What are you going to do? You wouldn't kill your own uncle, would you," he asked. I pause for a moment, allowing the suspense to seep in.

"No Scar. I am not like you," I replied.

He looked deeply relieved. "Oh thank you Simba. You truly are noble. I'll make it up to you. I-I promise. How can I, ah, prove myself to you? Tell me. I mean anything."

"Run away Scar. Run away and never return," I replied gravely, with deep anger, mimicking the voice that he had used on me, all those years ago.

He appeared shocked, but then grew calm. "Of course," he said as he started passing me towards the exit of Pride Rock "I understand, my lord. My liege. Your majesty!" He suddenly swept a pile of rocks and dust at my face.

Then without warning, Scar leapt at me, claws unsheathed, anger in his eyes, but I was blinded so I could not see the attack. He tackled me, causing us both to fall off the edge of Pride Rock. I heard pride screamed as they watched our descent off the side of Pride Rock. I heard Simba and my mother scream my name as Scar and I bounced off several boulders and land on a rock a few feet off the ground.

* * *

Everyone watched as the two lions, uncle and nephew, tumble down the rocky path to land on a boulder still high above the ground. Scar had landed on Simba and was now trying to claw at him. The shock soon wore off as the hyenas suddenly turned and began to run down towards the two, trying to aid their king. The lionesses also sprung into action ad they started fighting against them.

A sudden lightning struck, ignited the dead trees surrounding Pride Rock. Simba's eyes glazed over as he remembered the day his father died. His father's screams merged with his own as he watched him fall off the cliff side. Scar had not tried to help Mufasa up. He threw Mufasa down into the stampede and killed him! Simba then leaped up and pinned Scar under him.

"Murderer!" he roared at him.

Scar tried to get out from underneath Simba, but could not. Simba had also put his paw over his throat. "Simba, you have got..." he was caught off as he started pressing his paw down over his throat. "Okay, I did it," he confessed.

Simba growled. "So they can hear you."

Scar's face grew to an expression filled with hatred. "I killed Mufasa!"

* * *

Some of the hyenas had gotten past the lionesses and started to attack Simba off of Scar, but the lioness had begun to fight them back. The fire made it look like it was hell at Pride Rock. A hyena had tried to get Simba from behind, but a sudden hit from a stick had knocked him out. Simba looked up to see Rafiki with his stick, yelling a mandrill battle cry. He hopped down from his ledge and into the midst of hyenas. He then attacked them by asserting a bunch of kung fu moves on them with his stick as a bo staff.

Simba had fought off most of the hyenas, most of them fleeing from Pride Rock. He leapt up to a ridge above them and soon located Scar, who had slinked away after the hyenas had released him from his grasp and was now fleeing up of Pride Rock. Scar noticed Simba as a lightning flash illuminated him and he immediately ran up the rocky pathway. Simba roared and ran after him.

Branches on fire and the narrow pathway made it hard for Scar to get away from his nephew, but he did and he leapt across a crack to the other side that soon was surrounded in high flames. He ran until he reached the edge, the very top of Pride Rock, stopping quickly before he fell down. Some rocks got knocked down and he saw them fall below. He looked down to see flames rising all around Pride Rock. He would either fall down and be crushed by the height of Pride Rock or he could turn around and either be burned by the fire or killed by his nephew.

Simba jumped through the wall of fire with a loud roar. He searched around till he saw him. The two lions then faced each other on the top of Pride Rock, flames and smoke circling all around them.

"Murderer," Simba growled as he advanced slowly closer to him.

"Simba, Simba, please. I beg you. Please have mercy. Let me live," Scar begged.

"Let you live? When you didn't even help my father up the cliff? He trusted you! Why? Tell me why you did it. Why did you kill my father," Simba asked him.

Scar was shocked at this, but it soon melted into a deceiving face. "He had everything I wanted. I wanted it, he was in the way, I got rid of him. I had gotten what I had wanted until you showed up," he said with no shame in his voice.

Simba was disgusted at how the way his uncle treated his family. He could not believe how someone could be so heartless and cruel. To his own blood even. He had only one thing to say to him.

"I'll give you one last chance Scar. Run away. Run away and never return," Simba repeated.

Scar bowed his head down and began to move past Simba. "Yes. Of course... your majesty," he said as he suddenly threw a pile of sparks and embers at Simba's face.

"Aaagh," Simba yelled, as he was temporarily blinded again, this time by a painful heat in his face.

Scar took it as his opportunity to attack him, this time to finish him once and for all. He leapt at Simba, trying to bite through his neck before Simba wrestled him off. Scar pushed him down and tried to push him off the edge, but Simba batted him away and got up. Through the flames, sparks and intense drafts of heat they fought. Both were evenly matched. If one hit the other, the other one hit right back. Simba jabbed his paws into Scar's shoulders, pushing him back before hitting his face. Scar stood on his hind legs and managed to scrape him twice in the mane with his claws.

Before he could land him a third time, he missed, and Simba retaliated and smacked Scar across the face, sending him down. Scar then got up again and copied the hit. He did it again and Simba was thrown back, through a wall of flames and near the edge of Pride Rock. He saw Scar leaping at him to finish him off, the flames making him seem like a figment of evil coming straight out of death itself. Simba, however, was quick to think and used his hind legs to push Scar off of him and off of Pride Rock, a move taught to him by Nala all those years ago.

Scar fell, tumbling down the rocky sides a great height and landed motionlessly on the ground. Simba looked over the edge, trying to see if Scar was finished. He couldn't see Scar, just the fire was raging all around him. A sudden figure appeared from out of the flames on the ground. Several more figures appeared around it. It was the hyenas. Scar opened his eyes to see them coming towards him and tried to get up. "Aah, my friends," he feigned.

Shenzi stepped forward. "Friends? I don't think so. You betrayed us. You promised us food and you gave us nothing. Because of you, my pack has starved and even some have died because of you. You lied to us and made us work for nothing. All you have done has left death and destruction. We're just here to return the favor." She motioned to the other hyenas circling him and licking their chops. Ed began laughing evilly as he started to close in.

"No, wait, what are you doing? Stop! I swear it was an accident. No! No," Scar's yells were cut off by the roar of flames and the barks of the hyenas attacking who soon devoured him.

* * *

The great sea and waves of fire raging around Pride Rock started to die down as a rainstorm started to pour down on the flames, replacing it with steam. It was truly a miracle, the first rainstorm in years since the start of Scar's reign. Its cool waters rinsed the pride of its grim and dirt and cleansed the ground of the footsteps and claw marks of where the battle took place. The rain poured down heavily and all those caught under it welcomed it like an old friend returning.

The lionesses looked up to see that Simba had appeared from the steam, bruised and covered in ash and soot, but alive. Zazu bowed to him as he walked past. The lionesses had gathered around, coming to celebrate his victory. He climbed down and rushed over to the spot his mother and new wife stood while being drenched with water. He nuzzled his mother before Nala came over and nuzzled him.

He then stopped as he heard a rattle shaking and he looked up to see Rafiki, shaking his staff and then pointing it towards the tip of Pride Rock. Simba stared up at it and remembered what his father did when he still lived. He knew what he had to do. The lionesses watched as Simba came up and over to Rafiki. Rafiki smiled and bowed at him and Simba extended an arm and hugged the old mandrill.

Rafiki then put both of his hands on Simba's shoulders and looked at him. "It is time," he said. Simba now knew what it was.

He turned and started the climb to the top of Pride Rock. The pride and Zazu below watched him slowly ascend. Simba looked below to see the rain washing away a dead antelope skull. He kept climbing to the top and looked up into the sky. He saw a few of the clouds had part to show the night sky with the stars and he could have sworn that he heard his father's voice saying, _"Remember."_

Simba then knew what he had to do now. He roared, his voice being heard all over Pride Rock. The lioness roared with him in the rain. Sarabi and Nala both roared as loud as they could to glorify their new king. Their voices spread across the land, breaking the death and silence that had plagued it for so long. A new king and era had come.

* * *

The rains continued to pour and it was just a matter of months when the Pridelands were flourishing again. Once again lush, rich, green and verdant, the herds had come back and were now gathered at Pride Rock to celebrate their new king and queen.

Elephants lifted their trunks and trumpeted. Zebras, gazelles and many other hoofed-animals raised their hooves in excitement. Monkeys jumped and birds lifted their wings onto the sky. All creatures cried out to honor their new rulers. The presentation has left them each with hope for a bright future.

Simba and Nala were standing on top on Pride Rock in front of the animals, as their new king and queen. Pumbaa and Timon also stood by them, Timon shaking his arms in a classic victory sign. Zazu flew around them on the point. Rafiki had brought out their new cub, a girl they named Kiara, to show to the inhabitants of the Pridelands. He lifted her up and the Pridelands inhabitants cheer for their future ruler and bow to her.

Simba nuzzled Nala as they looked over the Pridelands. Simba felt a breeze from on high and he looked up to see light pouring down from the sky, just as bright as the sun. He squinted to see a familiar form and soon realized it was Mufasa.

"Father," he asked as he lifted his head higher to better make him out. Mufasa smiled down on him.

"Well done, my son."

Simba gazed up and smiled at his father, knowing that he was at peace in heaven and was always there for him, even while in heaven. He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of the air swirling around him, bringing up many plant materials symbolizing this great land.

The Circle was complete at last.

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed this, I had fun writing it for all you guys.** **Please review and tell me how I did. Sincerely, v.t.7**


End file.
